Breitbart Feedhttp://www.breitbart.com/Recent content from BreitbartenBreitbart 2012Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:51:55 GMTThu, 18 Dec 2014 05:51:55 GMT30Pope Francis' Disturbing Cuba Activismhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/kq99_hATQqo/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Peace/2014/Pope/obama-pope-francis-serious-AP.jpg'/></p><p>On Wednesday, President Barack Obama <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/12/17/White-House-Overhaul-of-Cuba-Policy-Includes-Havana-Embassy-Expansion-of-Travel">announced</a> that the United States would be changing its policy toward Cuba, opening a Havana embassy and expanding travel. &ldquo;Through these changes, we intend to create more opportunities for the American and Cuban people and begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas,&rdquo; President Obama explained.</p> <p> </p> <p>The president negotiated the deal between the United States and Cuba over the course of 18 months. Pope Francis apparently <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/the-pope-s-diplomatic-miracle-ending-the-u-s-cuba-cold-war.html">initiated the negotiations himself</a>. The Vatican released the following statement:</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">[T]he Holy Father wishes to express his warm congratulations for the historic decision taken by the governments of the United States of America and Cuba to establish diplomatic relations, with the aim of overcoming, in the interest of the citizens of both countries, the difficulties which have marked their recent history.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Raul Castro thanked Pope Francis personally for the deal. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Pope Francis&rsquo; casual embrace of a communist regime contrasts sharply with the approach of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. Pope John Paul II&rsquo;s visit to Poland in 1979 famously helped launch the solidarity movement that led to the collapse of communism in the nation.</p> <p> </p> <p>When Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, he blasted the Castro regime by routinely using the language of freedom, and implicitly <a href="http://www.ordendemaltacuba.com/Documents/THE%20HOLY%20FATHER%20Arrival%20speech%20january%2021%201998.pdf">criticizing the Castros</a>:</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;">The Church in Cuba has always proclaimed Jesus Christ, even if at times she has had a scarcity of priests and has had to do so in difficult circumstances. I wish to express my admiration for so many of the Cuban faithful for their fidelity to Christ, to the Church and to the Pope, as also for the respect they have shown for the more genuine religious traditions learned from their elders, and for the courage and persevering spirit of commitment demonstrated in the midst of their sufferings and ardent hopes.</p> <p> </p> <p>Pope Francis, then an assistant archbishop, apparently wrote a book about the visit, which he joined. The tract, titled <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pope-francis-takes-a-public-role-in-us-cuba-relations/2014/12/17/9a394168-862f-11e4-a702-fa31ff4ae98e_story.html"><em>Dialogues Between John Paul II and Fidel Castro</em></a>, slammed &ldquo;the spirit that has driven capitalism &ndash; using capital to oppress and subject people.&rdquo;</p> <p> </p> <p>Pope Benedict visited Cuba in 2012 and slammed the American embargo against Cuba, but also stated in <a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/96674/pope-meets-fidel-slams-us-embargo">Havana&rsquo;s Revolution Square</a>:</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">The truth is a desire of the human person, the search for which always supposes the exercise of authentic freedom&hellip;[some] wrongly interpret this search for the truth, leading them to irrationality and fanaticism; they close themselves in &lsquo;their truth,&rsquo; and try to impose it on others.</p> <p> </p> <p>At the time, human rights activists criticized Benedict for not meeting with dissidents.</p> <p> </p> <p>Francis has gone further than both of his predecessors. He didn&rsquo;t merely criticize the embargo &ndash; he attempted to broken an end to it with explicitly political maneuvering. According to his biographer, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pope-francis-takes-a-public-role-in-us-cuba-relations/2014/12/17/9a394168-862f-11e4-a702-fa31ff4ae98e_story.html">Austen Ivereigh</a>, Francis &ldquo;saw the paralysis that resulted from the embargo, which had a deeply damaging impact on Cuban politics, psyche and economics.&rdquo;</p> <p> </p> <p>And unlike both John Paul II and Benedict, Francis&rsquo; critique of communism has been tepid at best. In October, Francis <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-caring-for-the-poor-does-not-make-you-a-communist-9828856.html">complained</a> that &ldquo;land, housing and work are increasingly unavailable to the majority of the world&rsquo;s population,&rdquo; and warned, &ldquo;If I talk about this, some will think that the Pope is a communist.&rdquo; Instead, Francis explained, &ldquo;love for the poor is at the center of the Gospel&hellip;it&rsquo;s the social doctrine of the church.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p> </p> <p>In <a href="http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=55998">June</a>, Francis actually suggested that communism had cribbed from Catholicism: &ldquo;I can only say that the communists have stolen our flat. The flag of the poor is Christian&hellip;Communists say that all this is communism. Sure, twenty centuries later. So when they speak, one can say to them: &lsquo;but then you are Christian.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p> <p> </p> <p>In December 2013, Francis <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/09/pope-francis-redistribution-wealth-_n_5294629.html">said</a> at the United Nations that economic progress could be achieved through &ldquo;the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensible cooperation between the private sector and civil society.&rdquo; He has tweeted, &ldquo;Inequality is the root of social evil&rdquo; &ndash; a notion that would certainly come as a shock to many religious people who believe that mistreatment of others is the root of social evil.</p> <p> </p> <p>In <a href="http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2013/10/01/news/pope_s_conversation_with_scalfari_english-67643118/?ref=HREA-1">October 2013</a>, Francis went so far as to tell a prominent Italian interviewer, &ldquo;Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good&hellip;Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.&rdquo; This seeming moral relativism is unsettling coming from the most powerful voice for traditional Biblical religion on the planet.</p> <p> </p> <p>Pope Francis&rsquo; perspective on the Cuban embargo is nothing new to the Vatican. His active involvement in negotiations, however, is. And given his rhetorical differences with his predecessors on the evils of communism, that activism should cause nervousness among more traditional Catholics in the mold of John Paul II and Benedict.</p> <p> </p> <p><em>Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, </em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-People-Barack-Obama-Administration/dp/1476765138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1401457899&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+People+vs.+Barack+Obama"><em>The People vs. Barack Obama</em></a><em>: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of&nbsp;</em><a href="http://www.truthrevolt.org/"><em>TruthRevolt.org</em></a><em>. </em><a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro"><em>Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.</em></a></p> <p><br /> </p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418f527e/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442976345/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418f527e/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/kq99_hATQqo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:13:00 GMT{8DF23D40-F6B8-4120-BC62-AB20815E46EC}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418f527e/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBig0EPeace0C20A140C120C170CPope0EFrancis0Edisturbing0Ecuba/story01.htmPresident Obama Picks His Favorite Film of 2014http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/AWhEkqZqceg/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Hollywood/2014/12/16/Obama-Smiling-ap.jpg'/></p><p>President Barack Obama revealed his favorite film of the year to <em>People Magazine</em>&nbsp;in an interview released on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p> <p>Obama named Richard Linklater&rsquo;s <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1065073/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Boyhood</a></em> his favorite movie of 2014.&nbsp;</p> <p>&ldquo;<em>Boyhood</em> was a great movie,&rdquo; he told <em><a href="http://www.people.com/article/barack-obama-michelle-obama-ferguson-racism-racial-profiling-interview">People Magazine</a></em>. &ldquo;That, I think, was my favorite movie this year.&rdquo;&nbsp; </p> <p>The film, a coming-of-age tale, was shot over a period of 12 years and tells the story of adolescence from the perspective of a young Texas boy who grows into a man.</p> <p>Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as the parents of up and comer Ellar Coltrane, <em>Boyhood</em> has been named Movie of the Year by the AFI Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globes and three Independent Spirit Awards, reports <em><a href="http://www.thewrap.com/president-obama-picks-favorite-movie-of-the-year/">The Wrap</a></em>.&nbsp; </p> <p>If the film is unable to perform well at the upcoming Oscars, Linklater may be on the fast track to a Presidential Medal of Freedom award.&nbsp; </p> <p>Obama's 2014 Freedom Award <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/11/10/Obama-s-2014-Medal-Of-Freedom-Recipients-Meryl-Streep-Stevie-Wonder-Tom-Brokaw">winners</a> included celebrities&nbsp;Meryl Streep, Stevie Wonder, and Stephen Sondheim.</p> <p>The <em>People</em> interview also featured First Lady Michelle Obama&rsquo;s disclosure of one of her favorite books.&nbsp; </p> <p>On David Fincher&lsquo;s adaptation of Gillian Flynn&rsquo;s <em>Gone Girl</em>, Michelle said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve read others since, but I read &lsquo;Gone Girl&rsquo; a couple summers ago, which is one of my favorites. The book is much better than the movie,&rdquo; she finished.</p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e96ed/sc/38/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216443017608/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e96ed/sc/38/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/AWhEkqZqceg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 01:50:35 GMT{3C8C4BBC-C3A4-4689-887F-D2F9C8A555B3}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e96ed/sc/38/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBig0EHollywood0C20A140C120C170CPresident0EObama0EPicks0EHis0EFavorite0EFilm0Eof0E20A14/story01.htmABC News: North Korea Govt Behind Sony Hackhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/G-ArZOuEXJ0/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/ABC1217a.jpg'/></p><p>On Wednesday's broadcast of ABC's "World News," network report Cecilia Vega confirmed North Korea was behind the cyber-attack on Sony.</p> <p>&ldquo;Tonight, ABC News has learned federal investigators have determined North Korea is responsible for the worst corporate cyber-attack in history,&rdquo; Vega said. &ldquo;Sources say agents are closely scrutinizing an elite high-tech cyber-spy unit called Bureau 121 -- the group, believed to have recently hacked into tens of thousands of South Korean mobile devices, banks and broadcasters. Tonight, Sony&rsquo;s decision angering some in Hollywood. Rob Lowe tweeting he's never seen or heard anything like this. This is one of the theaters that pulled the plug on the movie. Tonight, sources say it is undecided if Sony will ever release "The Interview" in theaters or on any other platforms.&rdquo;</p> <p><em>Follow Jeff Poor Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jeff_poor">@jeff_poor</a></em></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e2385/sc/21/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442969202/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2385/sc/21/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/G-ArZOuEXJ0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:37:13 GMT{33AC8334-AF45-4044-976D-1E086176A115}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e2385/sc/21/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CABC0ENews0ENorth0EKorea0EGovt0EBehind0ESony0EHack/story01.htmMN State Rep Wants $329,000 Refund from Jonathan Gruber for Work With 'Beyond Laughable' Error Rateshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/m-iS9nwgCuk/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2013/Obamacare/obamacare_get_covered_reuters.jpg'/></p><p>Minnesota State Representative Greg Davids&nbsp;is calling for embattled MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, the "architect" of Obamacare, to <a href="http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27003938/state-lawmaker-wants-jonathan-gruber-return-330k-mnsure">return all $329,000</a> he was paid by the state of Minnesota as a subcontractor on a 2011 contract to analyze the state's plan to develop its Obamacare health care exchange, MNSure.</p> <p>On November 21, Davids&nbsp;sent a letter to Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson requesting her to investigate Gruber's work.</p> <p>"In recent weeks," <a href="http://postbulletin.typepad.com/files/davids-letter-to-swanson.pdf">Davids wrote, </a>"significant concerns have been raised regarding the contract between the State of Minnesota and Dr. Jonathan Gruber entered into in March 2011. In light of troubling remarks by Dr. Gruber and MNsure, I believe that a review of Dr. Gruber&rsquo;s work, and payments made to him, is necessary."</p> <p>On December 9, Davids sent a second letter to Swanson. </p> <p>"Earlier today," Davids wrote, "in testimony before Congressional investigators, Dr. Jonathan Gruber refused to answer questions regarding compensation for his work with state-based insurance exchanges. The evasiveness displayed by Dr. Gruber reinforces my concerns expressed in the previous letter."<br /> <br /> "I implore your office to investigate Dr. Gruber&rsquo;s work and its relationship to MNsure&rsquo;s fiscal troubles," Davids requested again, "and urge you to explore all possible remedies for recovering the taxpayer funds wasted on his report."</p> <p><span>"To date," Davids told Breitbart News in an exclusive statement on Wednesday, "I have received word via phone call that the Attorney General's office was working on a response, but nothing in writing yet."</span></p> <p><span>Davids blasted Gruber's projections for the state of Minnesota about enrollment for the state's health care exchange, MNSure, when it launched.</span></p> <p>"MNsure, Dr. Gruber and Governor Dayton's Administration repeatedly guaranteed that the exchange would serve 1.3 million Minnesotans by 2016, including over 600,000 in commercial plans - a financial necessity to avoid a taxpayer bailout," Davids told Breitbart News.</p> <p>"Those projections were so far off that it has proved absurd," Davids said.</p> <p>"Instead of 500,000 private enrollees by the end of 2015, MNsure has repeatedly lowered Dr. Gruber's projections and now estimates that fewer than 70,000 will enroll in private plans by the end of next year," Davids added.</p> <p>"The error rate for Dr. Gruber's work is beyond laughable," Davids stated.</p> <p>"It is a shame," Davids continued, "that nearly $600,000 in public funds was used for projections that were inaccurate from the moment MNsure opened. The Dayton Administration has essentially used over $150 million in taxpayer money to build a broken IT system for public health programs."</p> <p>Davids, who has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?id=10123">since 1991</a>, is scheduled to become <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/pressrelease.asp?pressid=7881&amp;party=2&amp;memid=10123">Chairman</a> of the powerful House Taxes Committee in January.</p> <p>"There has been little to no transparency in Dr. Gruber's work with MNsure," Davids told Breitbart News. "Given that Dr. Gruber missed the deadline to submit his final report by four months - thereby avoiding scrutiny during the legislative process that led to MNsure's creation - it is sadly unsurprising that he may have failed to live up to other aspects of his taxpayer-funded contract," Davids concluded.</p> <p>A Breitbart investigation into the state of Minnesota's 2011 contract in which Gruber was paid $329,000 as a subcontractor to develop economic projections using his proprietary <a href="http://www.ct.gov/sustinet/lib/sustinet/board_of_directors_files/resources/grubermodel1pagedescription.pdf">Gruber Microsimulation Model</a> has uncovered a disturbing pattern of billing practices that indicate a lack of oversight. April Todd-Malmlov, the former executive director of MNSure, the state's Obamacare health exchange, was the official responsible for that oversight.</p> <p>Breitbart obtained copies of the Gruber invoices, the contract, &nbsp;and the Gruber subcontract in a public records request filed with the state of Minnesota.</p> <p>Though the contract, which was signed by former executive director Todd-Malmlov, clearly specifies that all Gruber's invoices should be itemized in detail, the invoices submitted by Gruber and paid by the state of Minnesota were notably lacking in itemization.</p> <p>Gruber's invoices do not specifically tie to deliverables specified in the contract other than to assert vaguely that some of them were delivered. The invoices do not consistently refer to the deliverables specified in the contract, nor, with the exception of the final report, do they specify the dates the deliverables were completed, to whom they were delivered in the state of Minnesota, nor whether they were formally accepted by specific bureaucrats in the state of Minnesota.<br /> <br /> Despite these shortcomings, former executive director Todd-Malmov authorized all of Gruber's interim payments as well as his final payment.<br /> <br /> Gruber delivered two final reports, one in 2012 and one in 2013, each about 60 pages long. Todd-Malmlov formally certified her acceptance of both these reports.</p> <p> But records obtained by Breitbart News from the state of Minnesota indicate there is no auditable trail for the work product that resulted in those final reports.<br /> <br /> In addition, Gruber's invoices do not track specifically to the deliverables identified in Exhibit B of the contract.&nbsp;<span>The deliverables in that exhibit are labeled&nbsp;</span><span>Deliverable A,&nbsp;</span><span>Deliverable B,&nbsp;</span><span>Deliverable C, and&nbsp;</span><span>Deliverable D.&nbsp;</span><span>None of Gruber's invoices refer to Deliverable A, Deliverable B, Deliverable C, or Deliverable D.</span></p> <p>The Gruber invoice that potentially aligns with Deliverable B is cryptic at best in describing what was delivered.&nbsp;The Gruber invoice that potentially aligns with Deliverable C actually does not match what is specified as Deliverable C in the contract. Only the final Gruber invoice--which refers to the final report referenced in Deliverable D-- tracks with any degree of specificity to the contract.</p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e2386/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442969201/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2386/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/m-iS9nwgCuk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:36:58 GMT{2A0BD88A-9B75-49A2-931A-620826CA42C0}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e2386/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBig0EGovernment0C20A140C120C170CMinnesota0EState0ERep0EWants0E3290E0A0A0A0ERefund0Efrom0EGruber0Efor0EWork0EWith0EBeyond0ELaughable0EError0ERates/story01.htmCan Obama Act Alone On Cubahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/qxvOv5g7d7c/story01.htm<p>While some believe today's actions toward Cuba are within the scope of Barack Obama's role as chief executive, there are others who maintain <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/finance/227442-can-obama-lift-cuba-embargo-without-congress">it's not so clear</a>. Given considerable opposition to his move to significantly loosen restrictions as regards Cuba, he may even end up facing a legal challenge.</p> <p>That would be in line with current challenges he's facing on both immigration and health care.</p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p>Shortly after the administration announced the shift, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he would try to bar funds from being used to establish an embassy in Cuba for the first time since the 1960s.</p> </blockquote> <p>Democrat Sen Robert Menendez also took except to the move. Obama is not empowered to simply end the embargo, however, as much of it is manifested in regulations, others maintain there is a fairly wide playing field upon which he can play.</p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p><span style="line-height: 1.4;">Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he would do everything in his power to block Obama&rsquo;s efforts, while Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said a prisoner trade accompanying the other changes &ldquo;sets an extremely dangerous precedent.&rdquo;</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.4;">And some experts questioned whether Obama was fully acting within a law, suggesting that, as with immigration and healthcare, Obama&rsquo;s actions on Cuba could face a court challenge.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.4;">&ldquo;Most who were involved in the drafting of the legislation &hellip; will believe that some of this isn&rsquo;t authorized,&rdquo; said Kavulich.</span></p> </blockquote> <p>The move may also complicate <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/international/227491-clinton-faces-challenge-on-cuba">matters for Hillary Clinton</a> should she opt to run in 2016, as most believe she will. She and husband Bill's record on Cuba involves some negative history.</p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p>Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have a contentious history with the Cuban-American population in Florida that goes back to the fight over Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban child whom the president allowed to be returned to his father in Havana after Gonzalez fled to Florida with his mother, who died on the voyage.&nbsp;</p> <p>Many in the Cuban-American community blamed Clinton for Gonzalez's return to the island, and some maintain it hurt Vice President Al Gore&rsquo;s chances of winning the presidency in 2000.</p> </blockquote> <p>Finally, in something akin to another look back at History, <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/227486-jfk-would-back-obama-says-white-house">the White House invoked John F. Kennedy</a>, claiming he would be in support of today's move. Kennedy, as most know, is responsible for initially putting America's current policy on Cuba in place.</p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p>"I do think that even President Kennedy would acknowledge that after more than 50 years of a policy of isolation [which] didn't bring about the desired result &hellip; change was needed," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.</p> <p>"So, it does strike me that, while the president is changing a policy that President Kennedy originally put in place, that the philosophy that the president is pursuing and the values that the president is pursuing is entirely consistent with the kinds of values that President Kennedy championed throughout his life," Earnest said.</p> </blockquote><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e2387/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442969200/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418e2387/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/qxvOv5g7d7c" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:27:22 GMT{5AF9A4F2-F9D4-47EF-9E35-A769945CD81A}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418e2387/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CInstaBlog0C20A140C120C170CCan0EObama0EAct0EAlone0EOn0ECuba/story01.htmJuan Williams: Cuba Deal 'Pig in a Poke,' 'Nothing There'http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/etmywimxnLI/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/Juan Williams Thumbnail.jpg'/></p><p>Fox News Analyst and columnist for <em>The Hill, </em>Juan Williams, argued that the deal the Obama administration cut with the government of Cuba was "a pig in a poke" and that "there is nothing there" on Wednesday's "Special Report" on the Fox News Channel.</p> <p>"The United States got sold a pig in a poke, there is nothing there" he said. And "there is no reason for the United States to reward these despots in any way without paying attention to the human rights, to the freedom of the press, in those countries. And to me, it's worrisome that we would do this...you need to have some sense of a guarantee."&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/IanHanchett">@IanHanchett</a></em></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dde95/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442978759/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde95/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/etmywimxnLI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:24:10 GMT{F37FE85A-0494-4205-AEEA-E512D0A0D4D7}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dde95/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CJuan0EWilliams0ECuba0EDeal0EPig0Ein0Ea0EPoke0ENothing0EThere/story01.htmNew York to Ban Fracking; Environmentalists Cheerhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/HtmicocUA2g/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2013/Energy/fracking-reuters.jpg'/></p><p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) &mdash; Handing environmentalists a breakthrough victory, New York plans to prohibit fracking for natural gas because of what regulators say are its unexplored health risks and dubious economic benefits.</p> <p>New York, which overlies part of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation that has led to a drilling boom in Pennsylvania and other nearby states, has banned shale gas development since 2008, when the state began an environmental review of the drilling technique also known as hydraulic fracturing.</p> <p>Wednesday's announcement, though not final, means a ban is all but etched in stone.</p> <p>"Never before has a state with proven gas reserves banned fracking," said Deborah Goldberg, an attorney with Earthjustice, adding that the decision "will give courage to elected leaders throughout the country and world: Fracking is too dangerous and must not continue."</p> <p>Industry and its supporters expressed outrage at the decision.</p> <p>"We are very disappointed that it appears the governor is unwilling to be a leader and is going to pass the buck at the expense of New Yorkers," said Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute.</p> <p>"This technology has been used for over 65 years in the United States. It's been demonstrated repeatedly after drilling millions of wells that we're able to do it while protecting the environment and protecting the people."</p> <p>Environmental Commissioner Joe Martens said Wednesday that he is recommending a ban, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, responded that he would defer to Martens and Acting Health Commissioner Howard Zucker on the decision.</p> <p>The Department of Environmental Conservation will put out a final environmental impact statement early next year, Martens said, and after that he will issue an order prohibiting fracking.</p> <p>About 30 anti-fracking activists cheered the decision at a rally outside Cuomo's New York City office, chanting "Thank you, Governor Cuomo, for saving our air!" and "New York banned fracking &mdash; and next, United States!"</p> <p>Zucker and Martens on Wednesday summarized environmental and health reviews that concluded fracking carries risks that haven't been studied enough.</p> <p>The drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale, which also runs under Ohio and West Virginia, was made possible by high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which releases gas from rock by injecting wells with chemically treated water at high pressure.</p> <p>The technique has generated tens of billions of dollars in industry profits and landowner royalties, and has reduced energy bills and fuel imports. But it has also brought concerns and sparked protests over air and water pollution, earthquakes, property devaluation and truck traffic.</p> <p>Zucker said he had identified "significant public health risks" and "red flag" health issues that require long-term studies before fracking can be called safe. He likened fracking to secondhand smoke, which wasn't fully understood as a health risk until many years of scientific study were done.</p> <p>Martens noted the low price of natural gas, the high local cost of industry oversight, and the large areas that would be off limits to shale gas development because of setback requirements, water supply protections and local prohibitions. Those factors, he said, combine to make fracking less economically beneficial than anticipated.</p> <p>Even if drilling were allowed in New York, it probably wouldn't take off any time soon because of the uncertainty around regulations and legal challenges and the huge number of promising drilling locations that remain in Pennsylvania, David Spigelmyer, president of the industry group Marcellus Shale Coalition, said last week.</p> <p>The Marcellus Shale is enticing to energy companies because of its proximity to the major demand centers of New York City and New England, which is paying more for gas because of delivery constraints. But the regulatory uncertainty remains too high to commit to drilling in New York, Spigelmyer said.</p> <p>In states where fracking is not yet allowed or is happening but is subject to criticism, New York's move excited some anti-drilling activists.</p> <p>"The more fracking expands, the more opposition grows," said Sharon Wilson, of the group Earthworks, who has organized anti-fracking activists in Texas, California and Colorado. "Industry is its own worst enemy because they continue to deny the impacts."</p> <p>Fracking supporters decried the New York move. Karen Moreau, executive director of New York's branch of the American Petroleum Institute, said the Cuomo administration is denying landowners the right to develop their mineral resources.</p> <p>"The secretary of energy, the U.S. EPA administrator and President Obama recognize the benefits of fracking, and yet the Cuomo administration simply did not want to anger their activist base," Moreau said.</p> <p>Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the Joint Landowners Coalition, which represents leaseholders, accused Cuomo of appeasing "environmental extremists" for political gain.</p> <p>"Is our health department ignoring impacts of other energy options and suggesting that we continue with our reliance on coal and nuclear energy?" Fitzsimmons said. "Did our health department consider the health effects of poverty and unemployment?"</p> <p>Cuomo said he is expecting lawsuits will be filed "every which way from Sunday."</p> <p>In California, energy companies have been using a type of fracking to extract oil for many years and are pushing to expand such drilling. Environmental groups hope the New York decision will influence Gov. Jerry Brown, who has largely supported fracking. A scientific study is due to be released next month.</p> <p>Californians will ask now, "If it's not safe for New Yorkers, why should we think it's safe for us?" said Charles Margulis, with the California branch of the national Center for Environmental Health, a nonprofit organization.</p> <p>___</p> <p>Associated Press writers Jon Fahey and Jenn Peltz in New York, Emily Schmall in Dallas and Don Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.</p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dde96/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442978758/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde96/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/HtmicocUA2g" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:22:00 GMT{5064CA66-7E12-49B2-97DB-CC48219F48EA}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dde96/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBig0EGovernment0C20A140C120C170CNew0EYork0Eto0Eban0Efracking0E0Eenvironmentalists0Echeer/story01.htmFLOTUS Flashback: Woman Asked for Help at Target 'Because She Was Short'http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/XGKy5uH659A/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/flot.jpg'/></p><p>Wednesday, People magazine published an interview titled "T<a href="http://www.people.com/article/barack-obama-michelle-obama-ferguson-racism-racial-profiling-interview">he Obamas: How We Deal with Our Own Racist Experiences</a>," in which Michelle Obama claimed it was due to racism that a woman at Target asked her for help to get detergent from a high shelf.&nbsp;</p> <p>"I tell this story, I mean, even as the first lady, during that wonderfully publicized trip I took to Target, not highly disguised, the only person who came up to me in the store was a woman who asked me to help her take something off a shelf. Because she didn't see me as the first lady, she saw me as someone who could help her. Those kinds of things happen in life. So it isn't anything new."</p> <p>However, two years ago the 5' 11" first lady told David Letterman it was because the woman "was short," saying, "I thought I was undercover. I have to tell you something about this trip though. No one knew that was me because a woman actually walked up to me, right? I was in the detergent aisle, and she said, I kid you not, she said, &lsquo;Excuse me, I just have to ask you something,&rsquo; and I thought, &lsquo;Oh, cover&rsquo;s blown.&rsquo; She said, &lsquo;Can you reach on that shelf and hand me the detergent?&rsquo; &nbsp;I kid you not&hellip;And the only thing she said. I reached up because she was short, and I reached up, pulled it down. She said, &lsquo;Well, you didn&rsquo;t have to make it look so easy.&rsquo; That was my interaction. I felt so good."</p> <p><em>Follow Pam Key on Twitter</em><em>&nbsp;</em><em><a href="https://twitter.com/pamkeyNEN">@pamkeyNEN</a></em></p> <div id="radePasteHelper" style="border: 0px solid red; position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: brandon-grotesque, sans-serif;"> <div id="container" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; width: 1200px; position: relative; font-family: brandon-grotesque, sans-serif !important; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 50%;"> <div id="wrapper" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 97px 0px 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; 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letter-spacing: inherit; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; float: left; width: 680px; font-family: brandon-grotesque, sans-serif !important; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 50%;"> <div id="articleHeader" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px -80px; padding: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; position: relative; width: 800px; border: 1px solid transparent; font-family: brandon-grotesque, sans-serif !important; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 50%;"> <h1 id="articleHeadline" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: inherit; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 42px; line-height: 44px; font-family: brandon-grotesque, sans-serif !important; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: 0px 50%;"></h1> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </span></div><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dde97/sc/36/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442978757/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dde97/sc/36/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/XGKy5uH659A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:20:58 GMT{2F6D4078-F26D-4E56-9C5E-E2CA3623D50F}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dde97/sc/36/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CFLOTUS0EFlashback0EWoman0EAsked0EMe0EFor0EHelp0Eat0ETarget0EBecause0EShe0EWas0EShort/story01.htmAmericans View of Race Relations is Worst in Two Decadeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/HKb2_DHuhCA/story01.htm<p>Despite, or perhaps because of Barack Obama being in the White House - many feel he's done more harm than good to race relations in America -&nbsp;an NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll "showed the most pessimistic assessment of racial issues in almost two decades."</p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.4;">A majority of Americans, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/poll-57-percent-americans-say-race-relations-u-s-are-n269491">57% now say they are bad</a>.</span></p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p><span style="line-height: 1.4;">In the wake of protests over the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police, just four in ten Americans told pollsters that they believe race relations in the United States are "good," while 57 percent disagreed. And nearly a quarter - 23 percent - classified the current state of the country's racial issues as "very bad.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.4;">The data showed a dramatic slide from just 18 months ago, when a July 2013 poll indicated that a majority - 52 percent - offered an optimistic view of race relations. And throughout President Barack Obama's first term in the White House, more than seven in ten Americans said race relations were good, with a record 77 percent giving a positive assessment shortly after Obama's election as the first black president.</span></p> </blockquote><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dcb67/sc/7/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442975731/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb67/sc/7/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/HKb2_DHuhCA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:09:31 GMT{872279B3-A22E-44E6-A060-249451E4F775}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dcb67/sc/7/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CInstaBlog0C20A140C120C170CAmericans0EView0Eof0ERace0ERelations0Eis0EWorst0Ein0ETwo0EDecades/story01.htmRand Paul Has Sit Down With Goldman Sachshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/e6ugvs495H8/story01.htm<p>Senator and prospective 2016 Republican presidential hopeful <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/rand-paul-gets-private-audience-at-goldman-sachs-20141217">Rand Paul addressed</a> several Goldman Sachs executives during "a closed-door audience at the firm's 200 West offices as part of an internal company speaker series known as Talks@GS."</p> <p>Reportedly, "Paul spoke about foreign policy, the economic recovery, and race relations, ... and he was well received."</p> <p>&nbsp;Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has also addressed the group via the event series. His wife Heidi works for Goldman in their Houston office. Goldman represents some very deep pockets politically speaking and it's not unusual for prospective candidates to come calling.&nbsp;</p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p>Paul has been canvassing the New York donor set heavily as part of a widely expected presidential run in 2016. The financial sector is one of the biggest sources of campaign cash in the country, especially for Republicans, and Goldman is one of the biggest players on Wall Street. Goldman employees doled out more than $8.3 million to federal candidates and parties during the 2012 campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.</p> <p>Monday's event lasted 45 minutes, with Paul taking questions from John F.W. Rogers, a Goldman executive vice president and chief of staff to the board, who served in the Reagan administration in the 1980s and, at Goldman, was a top confidante to both Jon Corzine and Henry Paulson when they were CEOs.</p> </blockquote> <p>There is a caveat, however, in Paul's case. He has a record of <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/rand-paul-gets-private-audience-at-goldman-sachs-20141217">saying some less then friendly things</a> about wall Street.</p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p>During his initial 2010 campaign, Paul ran a tea-party campaign infused by more-populist rhetoric. Back then, in an interview later posted to YouTube by Luke Rudkowski, Paul hawked his efforts to audit the Federal Reserve, saying one goal would be to "expose the people through an audit&mdash;maybe like Goldman Sachs and different banks that are making a lot of money off the U.S. taxpayer through these special deals they are getting with the Federal Reserve."</p> </blockquote><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dcb69/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442975730/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb69/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/e6ugvs495H8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:03:08 GMT{E4D1943B-49C2-49AA-9A85-B0D1C570B0D0}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dcb69/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CInstaBlog0C20A140C120C170CRand0EPaul0EHas0ESit0EDown0EWith0EGoldman0ESachs/story01.htmObama: 'My Recommendation Would Be that People Go to the Movies'http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/i4yosZ_C0xg/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/Obama1217.jpg'/></p><p>In segment of an interview that aired on ABC&rsquo;s &ldquo;World News&rdquo; on Wednesday, President Barack Obama reacted to the alleged that cyber-attack, which had been confirmed by U.S. officials by ABC News on Sony from North Korea in what appears to be the reaction to the movie &ldquo;The Interview.&rdquo;</p> <p>Obama explained that the cyber-attack was &ldquo;serious,&rdquo; but he encouraged people to go to the movies despite the threats on theaters that would have shown the now-canceled Christmas Day release of the film.</p> <p>&ldquo;Well, the cyber-attack is very serious,&rdquo; Obama said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re investigating it. We&rsquo;re taking it seriously. You know, we'll be vigilant. If we see something that we think is serious and credible, then we'll alert the public, but for now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies.&rdquo;</p> <p><em>Follow Jeff Poor Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/jeff_poor">@jeff_poor</a></em></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442975729/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/i4yosZ_C0xg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:01:26 GMT{72CF1E48-F9E2-435D-8651-137EF505F346}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dcb6a/sc/38/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CObama0EMy0ERecommendation0EWould0EBe0Ethat0EPeople0EGo0Eto0Ethe0EMovies/story01.htmU.S. to announce that North Korea behind Sony hack: CNNhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/ZGWvURwqwNQ/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Hollywood/2014/12/17/4538c424-b039-4a7f-af00-41df3c0076d1jpg.jpg'/></p><p>WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; A U.S. official says federal investigators have now connected the Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. hacking to North Korea and are expected to make an announcement in the near future.</p> <p>The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to openly discuss an ongoing criminal case.</p> <p>Until Wednesday, the Obama administration had been saying it was not immediately clear who might have been responsible for the computer break-in. North Korea has publicly denied it was involved.</p> <p>The unidentified hackers had demanded that Sony cancel its upcoming release of the movie "The Interview," a comedy that included a gruesome scene depicting the assassination of North Korea's leader. Sony on Wednesday canceled the Dec. 25 release after the hackers had released sensitive corporate files stolen in the break-in.</p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9148/sc/21/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216443011062/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9148/sc/21/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/ZGWvURwqwNQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 23:30:00 GMT{963CBE89-556A-4B6F-AFAE-554CE09BE2C7}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9148/sc/21/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBig0EHollywood0C20A140C120C170CUS0Eto0Eannounce0Ethat0ENorth0EKorea0Ebehind0ESony0Ehack0E0ECNN/story01.htmCruz: Don't Listen to Consultant 'Cabal' and Pick Another Romney in 2016http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/UHhrYLSbIt0/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/Cruz Jeb Thumbnail.jpg'/></p><p>Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) argued that the GOP should not listen to the "cabal" of consultants in the 2016 presidential race and should also not nominate another Bob Dole, John McCain, or Mitt Romney on Wednesday's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on the Fox News Channel.</p> <p>Regarding a potential run by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Cruz stated "Jeb Bush is a good man, I think he was a good governor of the state of Florida." And "in my view, Republicans should nominate whoever's standing up and leading, whoever is taking on the great challenges of the day, whoever is standing up for free market principles, standing up and making the case that the Obama economy isn't working, it's a disaster...whoever is making the case that Obamacare is a trainwreck and we can do better [whoever's] standing up and defending our Constitutional rights that are under assault from Washington, whoever's standing up and defending rule of law...whoever is standing up and championing restoring America's leadership in the world, getting back to peace through strength," although he did not specify which candidates fit that description.</p> <p>When asked about big GOP donors supporting candidates like Jeb or Chris Christie instead of Cruz, he responded "there's this small cabal of consultants in Washington who keep running national campaigns, and they keep losing, they keep losing over and over again...what we're doing isn't working, and Neil, what seems clear to me is if we nominate another candidate in the mold of a Bob Dole, or a John McCain, or a Mitt Romney, and let me be clear, all three of them are good, honorable, principled men, but it isn't working. And if we do it again, the same voters who stayed home in '08 and '12 will stay home in '16 and Hillary Clinton's the next president."</p> <p><em>Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/IanHanchett">@IanHanchett</a></em></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9f94/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442967547/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9f94/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/UHhrYLSbIt0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 23:22:00 GMT{903D5D92-D674-46B5-B87B-7104964B63A8}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9f94/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CCruz0EDont0EListen0Eto0EConsultant0ECabal0Eand0EPick0EAnother0ERomney0Ein0E20A16/story01.htmObama in 2008: No Normalized Relations with Cuba Until All Political Prisoners Releasedhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/QyJgk74WrvU/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/obama08.jpg'/></p><p>On May 23, 2008, then-presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) gave a speech at the Cuban-American National Foundation&rsquo;s annual Cuban Independence Day luncheon where he promised he would not begin to "normalize" relations with Cuba until all political prisoner are released, saying "beginning with with the freeing of all political prisoners, we will take steps to begin normalizing relations."</p> <p>According to Human Rights Watch's "<a href="http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/cuba">World Report 2014</a>," the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation reported over 3,600 arbitrary political detentions in 2013.</p> <p>Obama said, "My policy towards Cuba will be guided by one word, liberty. The road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba's political prisoners, the right of free speech, a free press, freedom of assembly, and it must lead to elections that are free and fair. That is my commitment."</p> <p>He added, "I will maintain the embargo. It provides us with leverage to present, so do not be confused about this, I will maintain the embargo. It provides us with the leverage to present the regime with clear choice. If you take significant steps towards democracy,&nbsp;beginning with&nbsp;with the freeing of all political prisoners, we will take steps to begin normalizing relations. That is the way to bring about real change in Cuba, through strong, smart, principled diplomacy. We cannot keep playing political games on this issue. It is time for us to finally bring about the changes that will release the enormous potential of the people that are currently trapped in Cuba."</p> <p><em>Follow Pam Key on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/pamkeyNEN">@pamkeyNEN</a></em></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216443013771/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/QyJgk74WrvU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:53:00 GMT{D5FEF9C5-3F6F-4CA9-A152-A516FE499653}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d7ba6/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CObama0Ein0E20A0A80ENo0ENormalized0ERelations0Ewith0ECuba0EUntil0EAll0EPolitical0EPrisoners0EReleased/story01.htmColumnist: Ferguson Protests About 'White Rage,' Not Black Liveshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/4WX8gKXDTD0/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-California/2014/12/08/Amtrak-Twitter-Eden-Browerpng.png'/></p><p>Chip Johnson, a black columnist for the <em>San Francisco Chronicle</em>, has&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/johnson/article/White-screaming-drowns-out-black-voices-at-5958642.php" style="line-height: 1.4;">expressed</a> his frustration with the abundance of white voices and paucity of black voices in the Bay Area protests over the deaths of black men like Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Johnson writes, &ldquo;So far, it seems all I&rsquo;ve seen and heard in three weeks of protest are some pretty vocal white folks screaming to have their way, or dismissing the actions of the wolves inside the flock as the ugly backside of democracy.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>Johnson points out that with the decline of religious observance in the Bay Area, black religious leaders have been ignored. He quotes Bishop Joseph Simmons, pastor at Greater St. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&amp;channel=bayarea%2Fjohnson&amp;inlineLink=1&amp;searchindex=gsa&amp;query=%22Paul+Church%22">Paul Church</a> in West Oakland, saying, &ldquo;The clergy in Oakland have not really come together. We&rsquo;re still trying to figure out where we fit in in all of this. This generation doesn&rsquo;t have respect for the church, and we don&rsquo;t have the power we once had.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>In Johnson&rsquo;s opinion, if black leaders from churches or community organizations would become more involved, an older generation of blacks who fought in the civil rights struggles decades ago could relate more to present-day blacks. He assumes that racism is endemic in America, writing, &ldquo;...the roots and underlying reasons for racial animosity in America run far and deep and are fed by so many malicious streams that the deaths of African American men in confrontations with white police officers are but a symptom of a much broader social disease.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>Johnson seems willing to acknowledge that the crimes committed in the name of protests--but notes that they hurt the black cause. He quotes Bishop Bob Jackson, the black pastor at Acts Full Gospel Church, saying, &ldquo;When you see protesters taking the opportunity to loot stores and burn stuff, it doesn&rsquo;t help preserve the memories of young men like Brown and Garner. Using their deaths as an excuse to terrorize innocent citizens, loot, rob and destroy only hurts our cause.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>Jackson continued, &ldquo;I hope this is a movement that leads to changes in law enforcement&rsquo;s approach toward black people, but this is our problem and it will only be fixed by black people standing up. They can stand with us if they want to, but this is a black matter and we&rsquo;re the ones who need to stand together and join forces.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>Over the weekend, the <em>Chronicle</em> had <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/White-voices-dominate-Bay-Area-protests-of-racial-5953977.php">quoted</a> Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, a black community leader, saying, &ldquo;There are people who would like to participate, but they feel co-opted and don&rsquo;t want to be aligned with the vandalism and with people throwing things at the police.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p> <p>The <em>Chronicle</em> also <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/White-voices-dominate-Bay-Area-protests-of-racial-5953977.php">noted</a> that last Tuesday, white City Councilman Kriss Worthington, speaking at the Old City Hall in Berkeley, was heckled by those yelling, &ldquo;Let a black person talk!&rdquo; and &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve heard from enough Caucasian men!&rdquo; The heckling ended when Latino and black men spoke afterward.</p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442974023/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/4WX8gKXDTD0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:51:39 GMT{19EFEF9C-47C0-411A-98EC-1EE224C95941}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dbe2e/sc/8/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ECalifornia0C20A140C120C170CColumnist0EFerguson0EProtests0EAbout0EWhite0ERage0Enot0EBlack0ELives/story01.htmPot-Smoking Santa Decoration Removed from Dispensary After Complaintshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/WHwVA6FAYIQ/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-California/2014/12/17/B5E98K6CYAATbcl.jpg'/></p><p>A medical marijuana dispensary in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, California was forced to remove a decal depicting Santa Claus smoking marijuana after dozens of complaints were lodged against the pot shop on Facebook.</p> <div class="ndn_embed" data-config-widget-id="2" style="width: 640px; height: 480px;" data-config-type="VideoPlayer/Single" data-config-tracking-group="90085" data-config-playlist-id="13434" data-config-video-id="28267133" data-config-site-section="breitbart"></div> <p>Last week, the Harbor House of Dank in San Pedro hired an artist to paint Christmas decorations on its storefront, including the pot-smoking Santa and a snowman holding a prescription pill bottle, <a href="http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Residents-Riled-Over-Christmas-Display-of-Santa-Smoking-Pot--286028811.html" target="_blank">according to</a> NBC 4 Southern California.</p> <p>Complaints quickly mounted against the business on the "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/463990573653765/" target="_blank">Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Watch</a>" Facebook page, with residents expressing anger at the dispensary for putting them in a difficult situation with regard to explaining the decorations to children.</p> <p>"What do you tell your kids about that?" resident Tony Apodaca asked NBC. "I was shocked when I drove by in the morning knowing there's a junior high school a block away."</p> <p>While the dispensary manager told NBC he did not realize the decorations would cause a stir, and immediately called the artist to take them down, his high-profile stunt drew closer scrutiny to the business, which Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino's office says is illegal because it opened in violation of the city's Proposition D.&nbsp;</p> <p>Proposition D stipulates that only those dispensaries that opened before 2007 can stay in business legally. The Harbor House of Dank reportedly opened just a few weeks ago.</p> <p>It may become harder to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in the near future; under a buried provision in the recently-approved $1.1 trillion Senate spending bill, federal authorities will no longer be able to conduct raids on medical marijuana dispensaries operating in states that have legalized marijuana for medical use.</p> <p>Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-Costa Mesa) <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-medical-pot-20141216-story.html?track=rss" target="_blank">told the <em>Los Angeles Times</em></a><em></em> that the approval of the measure represents "the first time in decades that the federal government has curtailed its oppressive prohibition of marijuana."</p> <p>"The war on medical marijuana is over," Drug Policy Alliance lobbyist Bill Piper added to the <em>Times</em>. "Now the fight moves on to legalization of all marijuana. This is the strongest signal we have received from Congress [that] the politics have really shifted....Congress has been slow to catch up with the states and American people, but it is catching up."</p> <p><em>Image: <a href="https://twitter.com/UPI/status/545285153615257600" target="_blank">KCAL-9 via UPI</a></em></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442974022/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/WHwVA6FAYIQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:40:00 GMT{9C2BDEFF-72B9-47EA-B247-6D8F92FDB455}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418dbe2f/sc/7/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ECalifornia0C20A140C120C170CPot0ESmoking0ESanta0EDecoration0ERemoved0Efrom0EDispensary0EAfter0EComplaints/story01.htmGas Prices Will Spike in California Jan. 1 Due to Cap-and-Tradehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/N0vHIaGrrgA/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-California/2014/12/17/gaspump.jpg'/></p><p>California&rsquo;s cap-and-trade program will cause the cost of gasoline to skyrocket after New Year&rsquo;s Day, <a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/12/16/experts-expect-gas-prices-to-spike-come-new-years-day/">reports</a> CBS Los Angeles. The price hikes may come as a shock to drivers, as Americans in the rest of the country will likely continue to enjoy falling fuel prices in the near future. Estimates of the price increase vary wildly:&nbsp;</p> <p> </p> <ol> <li>The California Air Resources Board (CARB) asserts prices will increase 10 cents a gallon;</li> <li>The Legislative Analyst&rsquo;s Office (LAO) believes prices will rise from 13 to 20 cents per gallon immediately, rising to 50 cents by 2020;</li> <li>The Western States Petroleum Association says prices will ascend 76 cents a gallon;</li> <li>According to the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>, the Boston Consulting Group said in 2012 that prices would rise between $0.49 and $1.83 per gallon by 2020.&nbsp;</li> </ol> <div class="ndn_embed" data-config-widget-id="2" style="width: 640px; height: 480px;" data-config-type="VideoPlayer/Single" data-config-tracking-group="90085" data-config-playlist-id="13434" data-config-video-id="28266507" data-config-site-section="breitbart"></div> <p>AB 32, passed in 2006 and signed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, was intended to reduce &ldquo;global warming&rdquo; by <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_26428267/hidden-gas-tax-stop-this-part-cap-and">reducing</a> greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. As Assemblyman Tim Donnelly <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/08/13/Wanna-Pay-8-9-Bucks-per-Gallon-of-Gas">noted</a>, CARB slipped a tax into the program that will force refiners and importers to buy carbon credits.</p> <p>Not only will drivers be hurt at the pump, but the ripple effect of the price increase for transportation will also inflate the prices of fresh produce and household goods. The bill will be implemented January 1, 2015.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Critics of the cap-and-trade program note that the money drawn from the gas price hike will be targeted for high-speed rail and fuel-efficient vehicles.</p> <p> </p> <p>Mike Morell, (R-Rancho Cucamonga), has co-authored Senate Bill 5, which would delay the gas fee until 2020. The GOP representative has been joined by some fellow representatives across the aisle, such as&nbsp;Assemblyman Henry Perea (D-Fresno), who wrote AB 69, which would delay the gas tax for three years.&nbsp;</p> <p> </p> <p>Donnelly tried to take the matter further, attempting to <a href="http://totalcapitol.com/?bill_id=201120120AB1332">abolish</a> CARB once and for all with his own bill, AB 1332.</p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9840/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442966544/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9840/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/N0vHIaGrrgA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:32:15 GMT{20AE4638-84D3-4E33-9482-46894F3AE1F4}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9840/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ECalifornia0C20A140C120C170CGas0EPrices0EWill0ESpike0Ein0ECalifornia0EJan0E10EDue0Eto0ECap0Eand0ETrade/story01.htmRoyce: Cuban Prisoner Swap Signals 'Disturbing Trend'http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/V_F853BKkR8/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-California/2014/12/17/Royce-AP.jpg'/></p><p>Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) pointed to a "disturbing trend" under the Obama Administration, in which there are <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/06/04/Obama-the-Worst-Not-first-President-to-Negotiate-with-Terrorists" target="_blank">increased negotiations with spies and terrorists</a>,&nbsp;culminating with President Obama's decision to release three Cuban spies in exchange for U.S. aid worker Alan Gross.</p> <p>The Obama administration has also announced its intention to fully restore U.S.-Cuba relations by opening an embassy in Havana for the first time in over 50 years, a move Royce says could destabilize U.S. security.</p> <p>Rep. Royce issued the following press release on Wednesday regarding the prisoner exchange:</p> <p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial; color: #000000; word-wrap: break-word;"><em><span style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif;"></span></em></p> <blockquote style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"> <p>For more than five years, Alan Gross, a humanitarian worker, was wrongly imprisoned by the Castro regime.&nbsp; He should have been unconditionally released a long time ago.&nbsp; Period.&nbsp; Instead, a disturbing pattern is emerging where the Obama Administration is willing to negotiate the release of spies or terrorists.&nbsp; I fail to see how this trend will improve the long-term security of the United States and its citizens. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>The President outlined today numerous changes to U.S. policy toward Cuba, intended to bolster civil-society and Cuban access to information.&nbsp; It's ironic that&rsquo;s exactly what Alan Gross was imprisoned for. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>It is still unclear what steps the Cuban government is taking in return for this change in U.S. policy.&nbsp; It doesn&rsquo;t look like much.&nbsp; The President compared our economic relationship with Cuba to that of China and Vietnam.&nbsp; But in China and Vietnam, while Communist, at least foreign firms can hire and recruit staff directly, without their pay going to and bolstering the government, as it does in Cuba. &nbsp;</p> <p>In this respect, Cuba is more like North Korea than it is China.&nbsp; For your Cuban worker at the foreign-owned resort, they only receive a fraction of their salary &ndash; as little as 5 percent.&nbsp; Castro or Kim, the method is the same &ndash; extract hard currency from the outside, invest in the security apparatus, and make zero changes at home.&nbsp; Ordinary Cubans will not be economically or politically empowered unless Cuba's economic system changes; until President Obama&rsquo;s announcement today, the United States had been demanding this change. &nbsp;</p> <p>I am very troubled by the lack of engagement with Congress on this serious policy shift.</p> </blockquote><em style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4;">Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/AdelleNaz" target="_blank">@AdelleNaz</a></em><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9843/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216442966543/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d9843/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/V_F853BKkR8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:26:27 GMT{32F4BEBF-0CD5-412E-944B-2D65B9B624C2}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d9843/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ECalifornia0C20A140C120C170CRep0ERoyce0ECuban0EPrisoner0ESwap0ESignals0EDisturbing0ETrend0Ein0EObama0EPresidency/story01.htmGoodlatte: Court's 'Unconstitutional' Executive Amnesty Opinion 'Good Sign'http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/dlEjxtrxcZ0/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Big-Government/2014/12/17/Goodlatte522png.png'/></p><p><span>The recent court opinion declaring portions of President Obama&rsquo;s executive actions on immigration to be &ldquo;unconstitutional&rdquo; bodes well for future litigation against the president&rsquo;s recent order, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte tells Breitbart News.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span>Tuesday, District Court Judge Arthur Schwab ruled that aspects of Obama&rsquo;s executive actions go &ldquo;beyond prosecutorial discretion&rdquo; to actually legislating. He made these judgments as part of an opinion dealing with a criminal case.</span></p> <p><span>&ldquo;President Obama&rsquo;s unilateral legislative action violates the separation of powers provided for in the United States Constitution as well as the Take Care Clause, and therefore, is unconstitutional,&rdquo; Schwab <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2014/12/Juarez-Escobar.pdf"><span>wrote</span></a>.</span></p> <p><span>In a statement to Breitbart News, Goodlatte &mdash; whose committee has jurisdiction over immigration matters &mdash; said he agreed with Schwab&rsquo;s analysis and expressed optimism about future court challenges to Obama&rsquo;s executive actions.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span>"I agree with Judge Schwab that President Obama's unilateral rewriting of our immigration laws violates the separation of powers and the President's duty to enforce the law,&rdquo; the Virginia lawmaker said.&nbsp;&ldquo;This ruling is a good sign for the states' lawsuit challenging President Obama's unilateral, unconstitutional actions.&rdquo;</span></p> <p><span>Goodlatte continued, saying that when Congress returns next year it must look at all options to take on Obama&rsquo;s executive actions.</span></p> <p><span>&ldquo;Congress will continue fighting the President's actions early next year and should consider all the tools it has at its disposal, including potential litigation. Additionally, I am hopeful that the states will be successful in their effort to stop the President's actions from being implemented.&rdquo;</span></p> <p>Goodlatte recently signed on to an <a href="http://media.aclj.org/pdf/Texas-et-al-v-United-States-Amicus-Brief.pdf">amicus brief </a>the conservative American Center for Law and Justice submitted Tuesday in support of the recent lawsuit 24 states have filed challenging Obama&rsquo;s executive amnesty.&nbsp;</p> <p><span>&ldquo;The President&rsquo;s executive overreach on immigration must be stopped,&rdquo; he stressed Tuesday in announcing his support of the brief.</span></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d7431/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216443012859/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7431/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/dlEjxtrxcZ0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:17:08 GMT{D1B2440A-7E16-4CE5-8949-87CDE3A744B9}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d7431/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBig0EGovernment0C20A140C120C170CGoodlatte0ECourt0Es0EUnconstitutional0EExecutive0EAmnesty0EOpinion0EGood0ESign/story01.htmCruz: Cuba Deal 'Continues the Brutal Repression and Dictatorship'http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~3/FMDh78LHNmI/story01.htm<p><img src='http://cdn.breitbart.com/mediaserver/Breitbart/Breitbart-TV/2014/12/17/Cruz 1217 Thumbnail.jpg'/></p><p>Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that President Obama's freeing of Cuban spies and push to normalize relations with the island "continues the brutal repression and dictatorship of the Castro Brothers" on Wednesday's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on the Fox News Channel.<br /> <br /> "First, it was Russia, then it was Iran, now it's Cuba. this announcement today will be remembered as a tragic mistake. you know, Cuba was struggling, it was gasping, gasping for air. It has been relying on Venezuela. With oil prices cratering, Venezuela is hurting economically and just like the administration did with Iran, right when the administration was feeling the maximum pain, it throws them an economic lifeline and continues the brutal repression and dictatorship of the Castro Brothers" he stated.<br /> <br /> Cruz continued that increased money flowing into the island "enriches and empowers the dictatorship...Cuba is an ally of North Korea. It is an ally of Iran. It is an ally of Venezuela. It is an avowed enemy of this country. It was striking the president's remarks, he talked about the Bay of Pigs invasion, but somehow completely omitted the Cuban Missile Crisis, somehow completely omitted an incredible threat to U.S. national security...and it was sad to see both the president and John Kerry essentially blame America first. Blame America for the relation[ship] between the United States and Cuba. Look, the Castros are the ones who have decided to be brutal, reppressive dictators. And we should not be taking blame for the fact that we responded to their active acts of war and hostility. They are a leading state sponsor of terrorism, and just like President Obama did with Russia, just like President Obama did with Iran he does not understand the difference between our friends and our enemies."&nbsp;<br /> <br /> He added that the swap for American Alan Gross was "reminiscent" of the Bowe Bergdahl swap, and accused President Obama of favoring "a position of weakness" and trying to push back against the midterm election results by acting unilaterally.<br /> <br /> <em>Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/IanHanchett">@IanHanchett</a></em></p> <p><br /> </p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d7433/sc/1/mf.gif' border='0'/><br clear='all'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/rc/1/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/rc/1/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/rc/2/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/rc/2/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/rc/3/rc.htm" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/rc/3/rc.img" border="0"/></a><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/216443012858/u/49/f/651114/c/35151/s/418d7433/sc/1/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BreitbartFeed/~4/FMDh78LHNmI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:14:00 GMT{989D1E83-3E74-46F3-94E6-4C9C79C7B4A0}http://breitbart.com.feedsportal.com/c/35151/f/651114/s/418d7433/sc/1/l/0L0Sbreitbart0N0CBreitbart0ETV0C20A140C120C170CCruz0ECuba0EDeal0EContinues0Ethe0EBrutal0ERepression0Eand0EDictatorship/story01.htm